A peasant revolt for lunch

Old school colonialism sent armies, scientists, missionaries, and socialites to far off lands to enrich themselves, but the cost proved too high and unsustainable. The projects were short lived: Africa barely experienced full colonialism due to the world wars; China's was short lived, as so for the Near East and South Asia.

The unique exemption is in the US, where settlers adopted the complaints of native rights against their far off governments while at the same time behaving as agents of those distant governments to marginalise the true natives. This is all well known, of course, but what some historians have started to explore is just exactly when the old colonial model reserved: rather than facing outward, it faced inward.

Instead of going to far off lands to manage natives, the natives are brought home to be managed and exploited here. They are your Uber drivers, Caviar couriers, nail salon specialists, landscapers, plumbers, cleaners, guards, doormen, cooks, trash collectors, and so on--the types of people that make life run relatively smoothly for the rest.

European colonial powers already had their own peasant class with a long history, so when African slaves were introduced, they were simply inserted into that class system. Not so for America, one historian argues, where a new caste was built to play peasant for settlers, many of whom did not have blue antecedents.

The historian we spoke to, hypothesises that blacks and browns in America are there to play peasant. They may have equality in law in theory, but are treated otherwise in fact. British colonists picked native chiefs to put a black face to their rule, just like Obama was handed brief power--the face may change, but power remains on one side. Hence the historian reckons that as demands for the injustice mount, the hardening of elites will solidify with further contempt for the masses. The tactics to police unruly masses will get tougher, more violent. Those above will get to have their own peasant uprising, how quaint!